When you give a man a fish
by Terra Saltt
Summary: Homopiscis is an allusive recently discovered creature of the deep, and Tino is stuck with a crazy team of marine biologists trying to study it. He's also pretty fascinated by the magical new species, but not when he's being used as live bait in a shark cage to lure it out! (Human AU, Merman!Sweden. SuFin. Threeshot.)
1. First Encounter

Bait. Tino was bait. It was a promotion, Mathias had said. _You get to be closer to the action than ever before! _But how the hell was 'professional bait' a promotion from research assistant?!

Tino checked his equipment for the third time while the others were finishing getting the cage ready for his dive. It was a shark cage, but Tino wasn't shark diving today. He'd been shark diving before, and it was fun. _This _put a lump in his throat. What could be scarier than diving with sharks, you ask?

Diving with a merman.

Homopiscis, as they were properly known, were a recent discovery that shocked the entire world. All those myths and legends of mermaids were true after all! It sparked a new field of study in marine biology which quickly caught fire. However, gathering data had been a very slow process. The homopiscis species was incredibly allusive and it was only out of pure luck that they had been discovered at all. This particular research team was lucky enough to to have found a relatively stable subject that didn't seem to migrate anywhere far and had a normal daily habit. Even with this, though, the subject was hard to document. They did know, however, that the male merman liked to sun himself on the rocks of a cliff, his tail blending in almost seamlessly with his environment, and the only thing giving him away was the mop of messy short blonde hair on his head. The boat had to stay at a distance and search with binoculars because if they got any closer he would slip back into the sea. If the distance wasn't bad enough, the fog and mist and sea foam sometimes blocked their view for days! They'd been out here for a month and only managed to catch glimpses of their subject, and no valuable research had been done. It was getting pretty hopeless on deck...until something happened that changed everything.

After weeks of keeping their distance, Mathias had Lukas take the ship in just a little bit closer, hoping the merman had gotten used to their presence by now. Somehow they didn't scare him off, and that only got the captain giddy. They got closer, and closer, and closer than they ever had before!

And then the merman woke up from the little nap he was taking, looked over at the boat, and disappeared. Drats.

But he wasn't gone for long. Tino was taking a sample of the water, as ordered, when just twenty feet away, a pair of blue eyes surfaced. The assistant was so caught off guard that he shrieked and fell backwards, and the merman disappeared. Mathias was in the middle of yelling at him for ruining the biggest opportunity they might ever have when Emil nudged his brother and Lukas followed his gaze. The subject was back, and he was staring. Glaring, really. Everyone was quiet as they stared back, too afraid to move in case they startled it away again. Tino was frozen because it looked like their subject wanted to flip their boat over, and he wondered if he could. They didn't know anything about him, so anything was possible.

A few minutes later, the merman sunk back below the water, and while it was an opportunity lost, everyone was in higher spirits that another was possible. Their subject was curious, Mathias exclaimed over a round of drinks that night. Curiosity was good. It was something they had in common.

Tino had a feeling that wasn't the case, but he didn't say anything. It really did look more like the merman was pissed about them being in his territory.

After that, their subject came around a few more times, but none of those times were recorded properly. Why? Because he kept showing up around Tino for some reason. Only when Tino was near the edge of the boat cleaning something would they be graced was his presence. Quite frankly, it creeped Tino out. It got Mathias excited, though.

So here Tino was, being lowered into a metal cage about to be sent afloat, his team hoping it would work and Tino hoping it wouldn't. He wasn't keen on this idea at all. The difference between diving with sharks and diving with a merman was that Tino was aware of what the sharks were capable of, he knew what their intelligence was, and he knew just where on the nose to bop them if they got too close. He knew nothing about any of that for a species like this. What if homopiscis was highly intelligent and had tools? The bars would be useless if he showed up with a spear! His crew mates ignored him, though. Before releasing the cage near the cliffs, Mathias even smirked and said, "Sometimes science requires sacrifice!"

Tino was going to transfer the second he got back to land.

It was cold in the water, but that wasn't what was giving Tino goosebumps. He was alone in a shark cage, the boat had gone away to help lure the merman out, the water was murky, the only sound was that of his breathing in the respirator. If he hadn't been told otherwise, he probably would have babbled nonstop in his nervousness to Lukas through the radio. The chatter might scare the merman off, was the reason he was given.

Ten very boring and simultaneously nerve wracking minutes later, Tino finally saw a dark shape pass by. It could have been anything, Tino told himself. A passing fish. A trick of the light? Nope. His hopes were shattered when it happened again, and he was absolutely sure he saw arms in that silhouette. No spears, though, which was the only comfort he could get from this situation.

"He's here!" Tino alerted the rest of the crew, and Lukas told him to hurry up and turn on the underwater camera. The assistant did as he was told and started recording, and he looked around for the dark shape again. It seemed to be circling him. Like a predator. Mathias told him to not be ridiculous and stay focused on the tast at hand. It didn't seem that ridiculous to Tino. He was pretty sure they valued the data they'd been desperately and unsuccessfully trying to acquire more than his life right now.

The allusive creature circled a few more times, just out of range for any good video footage, and Tino was starting to think that maybe he really was safe in the cage. That is, until the merman broke his slow circles and suddenly came forward to grip the bars, making Tino flinch and swim to the far side of the cage. The camera was sending a live feed to the boat, and in his speaker he could hear the cheers of Mathias, Lukas, and Emil as they FINALLY acquired footage of the first wild homopiscis ever. Tino was not feeling as joyous as them right now as he was stared down by the sharp eyed merman just a few feet away.

He was huge. Bigger than they thought he was. At least, his tail was. If he had legs he might have been about as tall as Mathias, but the grayish fishy appendage made him seem much bigger than that. Tino squeaked out his observations into the mic, desperately trying to keep calm, but everything he noticed didn't help that. There were a few scars on the merman's body, small white lines etched into the skin of his torso and a long one running diagonal along the slightly paler underside of his tail. This individual was not new to conflict. Judging by the strong build of his upper body, he most likely won most of those battles. Perhaps from defending his territory? The same territory Tino was invading?

Swallowing the lump in his throat and moving on, Tino noticed that the subject's eyes looked different so close up. They were blue whenever he surfaced to glare at Tino from a short distance, but down here they seemed to have a hint of green in them. And...they weren't glaring. At least, not as much. Was that a good sign? Tino sure hoped so.

The merman stayed where he was, just staring at Tino, picking him apart like the human was doing to him. Emil told him in his earpiece to zoom the camera in a little bit and when Tino looked at the screen to adjust it as he was told, the subject finally let go of the bars and moved. The merman was quick to swim to the other side of the cage, barely having to flick his tail at all to provide the speed, and Tino yelped as he just barely got out of the way when the merman arrived.

"H-he stuck his arm in!" Tino told the others in a rising panic. "He's trying to get me!"

"_Calm down, Tino, he can't reach you. Just stay in the middle and you will be fine."_

Tino did as he was told, but this forced him to be just out of arm's reach of the creature, and he would rather press his back to the bars on the other side again. But if the merman was out to get him, then that would be a very bad idea. The merman started circling again, this time right outside the bars, and his eyes were continuously locked on the live bait in the cage at all times with a strange expression that Tino couldn't decipher.

"_Woah, keep the camera steady!"_Mathias demanded. "_This is awesome! Check out the caudal fin, it looks like he's designed for gliding. Can you see if the dorsal fin is spined?"_

"U-uh, yeah," Tino was hardly paying attention to the voices or the camera he clutched to his chest, he was just focused on being out of reach and keeping his eyes on the merman at all times. Though he was scared out of his mind right now, he couldn't deny that watching the creature slide through the water so gracefully was exactly what he'd been dreaming about, too. He just wished the circumstances were better so he could fully enjoy the sight. He'd probably have to watch the video later to really bask in the amazing honor it was to be the first person ever to document and experience something like this.

Just as quickly as he came, only after a five minute encounter, the merman disappeared back into the depths. Tino exhaled a blast of bubbles in relief that it was over and the boat could pick him up now. He survived. Now to celebrate with vodka on the way back to shore and-

"Ah!"

"_What is it?"_

"He's back!" The shadow returned and Tino was quick to turn the camera on again after having just turned it off. "Why did he come back? Wait, he's swimming differently this time...oh god, what is that?!"

"_Calm down Tino, what do you see? What's he doing?"_

"He's...he's got something." Tino's first assumption was that it was the spear he feared getting stabbed with, but what the merman held in his hand was too small to be a spear. It wasn't until he came close enough to grab a bar with his free hand did Tino recognize what it was.

"_Is that a fish?"_

"Yeah..." This was getting strange. Why did the merman leave and then come back with a...

Tino's train of thought left him when the merman reached through the bars again and Tino instinctively inched back from the freshly killed fish that was now held right in his face.

"_Tino? Tino, the camera isn't getting this, what's going on?"_

"He's, um..." The assistant struggled to decipher it himself. "He's holding it out to me?"

"_What, like an offering?"_

"I-I don't know!" Tino moved back a little more and the merman's hand moved like he was beckoning the smaller forward. "I mean, I think he is, but I'm not sure if-"

"_What are you waiting for? Take it!" _Mathias commanded from his end excitedly. "_What if it's a peace offering? Maybe he's trying to see if we're friendly! This could be the turning point in homopiscis research if we get on the good side of one of them! Maybe he'll let us tag him and sing us a song and scan him and-"_

"_I highly doubt he would do all of that so quickly," _Lukas interrupted. "_But I do suggest taking it."_

Tino gulped. Alright, then. He was going to take the fish. He was going to get closer than anyone ever had to a giant dangerous sea creature who could easily take this as a chance to grab his wrist and strangle him against the cage bars. Tino sucked in a breath of fresh air from his tank and sent a quick prayer for safety skyward, and then he slowly lifted his hand and took the offered herring, wary of every little movement the merman made until his arm was well enough away from the subject to exhale in relief. It wasn't a trap, it really was just an offering.

Wait, just an offering? No, it wasn't just an offering, it was an offering from a homopiscus! This was...this was the greatest thing that had ever happened in all of marine biology, and he got it on camera! A strange new species that looked so similar to humans was demonstrating some kind of communication, perhaps even a cultural social gesture! The exchange of food no doubt meant something along the lines of peace, and Tino was starting to get giddy with what this meant. He looked at the merman, who stared at him like he was expecting something, and Tino was suddenly aware that maybe he was. Maybe this was a two-part ritual and simply accepting the fish was not enough.

"I think I need to give him something," Tino said, and the others wondered what he meant. "I mean, I feel bad that I don't have anything to give back! He went out and caught this fish for me and it feels like I should...oh, wait!"

The man got an idea and reached into the collar of his black skin-tight scuba suit. He wasn't sure if it would work, but it was worth a shot. The merman watched as he rummaged around for a clasp and undid the silver necklace he was wearing. It was a souvenir from Hawaii that said 'Aloha!' on a single silver bead and it was all he had to offer, but when he held it out to drift in front of the merman's face, it seemed to do the trick. The merman's eyes widened at the trinket and he was almost as careful as Tino had been when reaching into the cage to take it. The chain floated around his larger fingers as he held it up to inspect it, and Tino smiled behind his respirator. A moment later, the merman looked up and...was he smiling, too? That was a smile, wasn't it? Tino made the merman smile!

"Good work, Tino! I'm going to give you a real promotion when you get back," Mathias proclaimed, but Tino didn't care much about that. The fear he felt melted away into sheer thrill, and he dared to move a little closer.

Bad idea. Before he even saw it coming, the merman reached into the cage again and grabbed Tino's arm, pulling him towards the bars, and Tino let out a helpless cry. The camera caught the sudden attack before it was dropped to the bottom of the cage and Tino heard Lukas call his name and tell him they would be there in a second. Tino struggled to get free but the merman's hold on his wrist was strong, and another arm wrapped around his lower back, pinning his front against the bars just inches from the merman's face on the other side. Tino was about to scream when his respirator was taken out of his mouth and replaced with...

...Uh...

The boat's engine could be heard blaring towards the shark cage, and the noise made the merman suddenly stop and retreat. Tino, now free, kicked towards the surface immediately upon being let go and grabbed hold of the top bars as he gasped past the pressure on his lungs from the water. His heart pounded like a jackhammer in his chest while the boat pulled up alongside the cage and his crew mates yelled his name, and Tino called back, telling them he was okay and to get him the fuck out of the water, NOW. They did as they were told for once and the terrified assistant snuggled into the towel draped over his shoulders as he sat shaking on a bench with Emil checking him for injuries, just in case. Apparently he sounded like a dog being kicked over the radio. Tino was too shell-shocked by what just happened to tell them to shut up.

OOO

At the end of the day, they reviewed the footage as they sailed back to port. There were drinks all around and Tino was determined to get drunk tonight. The alcohol would calm his nerves, he hoped. It was like his heart couldn't stop beating in his throat since getting out of the cage, even after many hours since the encounter. Lukas said it was the adrenaline.

Seeing their subject up close on camera did not help calm Tino down. Quite the opposite, it only made his fingers twitch and he downed a few more shots to steady them. He really couldn't decide whether that experience was the best or worst thing that ever happened to him. It would be the best thing that happened in his career, yes, but the psychological damage would probably require some therapy. The others either didn't notice or were ignoring Tino's jitters in favor of partying. It was a great day for them and the science of marine biology and that's all they cared about.

That transfer better take Tino far away from this insane team.

When the footage neared the moment that Tino saw his life flash before his eyes, he wanted to look away. Sure, he was curious to see what might have set the merman off, if anything, but he didn't really want to relive that moment so soon. What did Tino do to warrant that attack? _Was _it an attack? The more Tino thought back to it, the more he remembered how the merman seemed to be trying _not _to hurt him. That was just crazy, though. It must have been his buzz doing weird things to his memory. Who knows, maybe he just imagined what happened after that. There was no way to tell, anyway, since that was when Tino dropped the camera.

The room full of smirks and snickering aimed at him made Tino stop pouring himself another shot and look up. "What?" he only received more chuckles at the question. "Why are you guys staring at me like that?"

"Why don't you tell us?" Mathias said and pointed at the screen, which was paused on a still image of-

Tino dropped his glass, which was thankfully right over the table and didn't break. Oh god, the camera caught _that. _Suddenly Tino's heart was beating frantically all over again and all of that alcohol was for nothing.

"I think we can infer what the offering was for," Emil said, making the red-faced Tino look at him.

"Wh-what?"

Lukas answered the question with his coyly smiling lips up to his glass. "He thinks you agreed to be his mate."

"WH-WHAT?!"

"Hahaha!" Mathias laughed loudly and thumped the stunned assistant on the back. "What an interesting theory, Lu! Make sure it gets documented!"

"Wha- no!" Tino stomped his foot as his blush crawled down his neck. "You won't tell anyone about that and you will erase that footage!"

"You know we can't do that," Emil sing-songed. The usually flat-toned young man twirled a puffin key chain around his finger and reclined into his seat. "In the name of science, we can't dismiss anything."

"But, but, but...!" Tino couldn't possibly have his name in the history books for _this!_

"Don't worry, Tiny," Mathias said with a toothy grin. "I'm sure you'll make a great fishy wife!"

Tino groaned. That transfer could not come soon enough.

* * *

**I'll never get tired of Finny pissing his pants over hot misunderstood Swedes.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Second Encounter

**Oh my gosh, you guys. I got so many reviews for the first chapter, and nearly all of them had something to do with demanding more of this story. It was originally going to just be a oneshot and it was supposed to leave on a cute mysterious ending, but because there was such an outcry, I gave it some thought and said 'Well why the hell not'. If you were a fan of how I originally ended it, then thank you very much and I hope this continuation doesn't ruin it for you! If you are one of the many people that begged for more: thanks for the support and making me feel super special and all that junk. I didn't just write one more chapter, I wrote two!**

**So you are welcome, and I hope this lives up to your expectations :)**

* * *

It wasn't bravery that got Tino back in the water. His crew mates watched on from their strategic positions with binoculars in anticipation for the next close encounter, this time outside the cage. Yeah, you heard that right. _Outside. _In fact, there wasn't even a cage this time, just a submerged platform open to the waves and anything that decided to follow them in. The boat was quiet, save for the rhythmic sloshing of water rolling between the bobbing equipment, and Tino stood in the middle of the large cradle of their new research boat holding a dead fish and questioning his life choices.

It wasn't scientific pursuit that had Tino standing waist deep in the water and waiting to be preyed upon. Usually this kind of boat was used for catching sharks, but after the success of the crew's research from their last voyage that rocked the scientific community, they were practically drowning in grant money and could afford just about anything now. There was even a small camera crew on board from National Geographic here to film the exciting first live capture and release of a homopiscis, and Mathias was more than willing to host them, if only to stroke his own ego. They sat in their carefully selected perches where they could capture video and not be a bother to the crew who had to be ready and alert the moment the cradle was submerged with Tino in it. Tino wasn't aware of that part of the deal when he accepted Mathias' invitation to help tag the merman, and he didn't like it one bit.

Tino was here because of bribery, and that wasn't even a secret. He vowed to never to come back to these cliffs again the moment he got back to land, but when Mathias made an offer he couldn't refuse, Tino couldn't refuse. Tino was about to make history (again) but not as a simple research assistant. No, he was now a full fledged marine biologist with a certificate and everything, not to mention a huge check in the mail with his name on it and more zeros than he'd ever made in his life! Half the grant money went into acquiring the new boat, and the other half went into acquiring Tino. The most embarrassing moment of his life ended up being the major turning point in his career.

He still wasn't sure how he should feel about that.

It was another sunny day, though a bit chillier than usual. Autumn would be coming soon, which would make this operation that much more difficult. Storms were too common in this area once the seasons began to change to plan any kind of trip out to the rocky cliffs where their research subject made his stomping grounds. It had been two weeks since the last time Tino was out here and the mental scaring of what happened last time was still fresh. The whole thing didn't seem real until just now, and the Fin bit his bottom lip while his eyes continuously scanned the water for the one he was baiting.

Professional bait, that's what he was. Tino was being paid a ridiculous amount to be a worm on a hook. Was it really worth it if he might die before getting the chance to pay off his student loans?

The homopiscis, now officially known as either 'Berwald' thanks to a random selection from names in a hat, or more fondly referred to as 'Tino's boyfriend' by the rest of the crew, sure was taking his sweet time. Nobody was really sure if this was going to work, anyway. This boat was significantly larger than the last one, not to mention the near doubling of people on board, so it was easy to see why the merman was being more allusive than usual, even with Tino placed strategically in plain sight. It was humiliating. All day he'd been on the receiving end of many bad jokes and quips, some he'd overheard from Emil and Lukas and others cracked in his face without shame. Was it really such a mystery why he hung out with the camera crew more than his teammates? At least Eduard, the tech assistant, was friendly and didn't make fun of him, even after seeing the footage of that godawful day in the cage. He made sure to help steer interview questions away from that topic, much to Tino's undying gratitude.

When the merman was spotted glimpsing the boat from afar, once again staring only at Tino and giving him the shivers, they decided to give their plan a go. Normally how this would work is that buoys attached to a hunk of meat would be released into the water until a shark came by and got hooked, then it would be dragged into the cradle where the boat's strong hydraulics would lift the whole thing up. At that point the crew would be free to tag and measure the animal in less than twenty minutes, then it would be released harmlessly back into the sea to go about its business. Obviously, doing the same thing to a homopiscis would not work. They were far too intelligent to get themselves captured so easily. Capturing Berwald was going to require clever thinking. Tino didn't know what was so clever about putting him in the water and waiting for the merman to swim right into the cradle, but they were counting on the theory that Berwald was being driven by instinct when it came to the young man that was supposedly his 'mate.' Tino argued against that fact relentlessly, but to no avail. Nobody would let the events of the earlier expedition down.

"Come on, Ti! Work it! Show some leg!" Mathias ordered impatiently from above. Tino didn't want to hear it. It was hard enough keeping his cool in this situation, he did not need the teasing. His only response to the captain was a middle finger. _Sorry, Ed. You'll have to edit that out in post._

"Keep quiet," Lukas hushed him. "You'll scare the fish away."

"I don't think he's coming," said Emil, who had gotten bored of watching the water and was sitting with his back against the rail until something exciting happened. "He's in love, not stupid."

"Same thing," Mathias dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "It'll work, you just wait."

"I _have_ been waiting. It's been almost an hour and we haven't seen a single sign of him. We should try something else."

"Like what? Do you have any other bright ideas?"

Emil huffed. That was a no. Tino really hoped they would do as Emil suggested and give up for the day because all of this nerve wracking waiting was exhausting. He really needed a drink.

Mathias gave it a moment of thought and turned his eyes to the sky with a sigh. "...Fine. If nothing happens in ten minutes, then we'll bring the platform back up and think of a new plan over lunch. You gonna be good until then, Tino?"

Seeing how it was unlikely anything was going to happen in just ten minutes, Tino agreed. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Everything went quiet again, but not as quiet as the dead silence before. Nobody really had much hope that the merman was going to show up by now, so a few people left their posts. The camera crew stayed where they were, but they filled their time getting wires and equipment ready to be packed down. Emil went inside to grab something from the pantry and Lukas started jotting down a few things in his research journal. Suddenly everything felt a bit more relaxed. Even Tino was starting to relax with the promise of lunch on his mind. Now that he thought about it, he was getting kind of hungry. Maybe Lu would be nice and make his famous-

The sudden sight of a grayish blue tail slipping right under the platform in front of him made Tino's thoughts come to a dead stop. W-was that... It couldn't be. No way. It was a trick of the light, maybe another fish. A dolphin, even.

Oh god, it wasn't a dolphin!

Tino whipped his head around to both of the open sides of the platform, too shocked to say anything to his unaware teammates when he saw another flash of scales, and this time a pale arm, dip just out of sight. The merman was circling.

"Guys," Tino squeaked, trying to be quiet while his brain told him to scream like a little girl. "H-he's here...!"

Lukas' head snapped up from his journal and Mathias fumbled for the button on his phone to play a pelican noise from an app. It was a bird not commonly found in this area, which made it a perfect signal to wordlessly alert the rest of the crew to the situation. The noise caught everyone by surprise and the National Geographic crew quickly dropped what they were doing to swivel the mounted cameras around in an attempt to find the source of Tino's distress. They wouldn't see anything just yet, though. The creature was currently under the platform.

"Steady, Tino," Mathias whispered down to his crew member who shook like a leaf where he stood. He was clutching the dead fish in his hands to his chest like a scared toddler would a teddy bear. "Don't run until the gates close. You'll be fine."

He didn't know that. Mathias didn't know anything. Mathias was an idiot. Mathias was going to get Tino killed!

The marine biologist swallowed and tried not to focus on his heart beating in his throat. This was the worst idea in the history of ideas. Was the money really worth it? In this moment, Tino would have to say no. No it was not. What if the merman suddenly swam over the platform and plucked Tino off of it? He'd seen how fast the creature was first hand, it was very possible that could happen before the gates had a chance to close. It took a good thirty seconds to raise the platform, too! In his head, Tino went over three or four horrifying scenarios and fruitless plans of escape as the minute dragged on without a single glimpse of their fishy guest. Everyone was holding their breath, especially Tino, who anticipated getting dragged under any second now. It was agony, just like being back in the shark cage again! Why didn't Tino have a harness or anything? Why didn't they think about that earlier?!

One of the camera crew pointed to the right side of the cradle and Tino felt his heart stop. There, peeking over the submerged edge of the floor, was a mess of choppy blonde hair and two blue eyes. He hadn't changed at all singe the last time Tino saw him, though he hadn't been expecting him to. Actually, there was one little difference this time: the merman was wearing a necklace. Tino's necklace. The silver glinted in the sunlight as the merman, now known as Berwald, gradually showed a bit more of himself as he continued to stare holes into the poor man's skull. Tino could imagine his long powerful tail hanging in the water below him. All it would take was a few little flicks of those fins and he could be dragging Tino to the bottom of the ocean before anyone knew what was happening.

No, Tino didn't really believe Berwald was out to kill him. But he did believe Berwald might accidentally kill him if he wasn't aware that humans didn't breathe underwater or something, and that prospect was just as terrifying.

The merman made no movement to approach the bait standing awkwardly before him. He wasn't sure how much time had gone by before Mathias got his attention. "Psssst, the fish! Give him the fish!"

Oh, right. Of course. The fish. The...offering. Tino swallowed again and nodded, carefully unlocking his arms and extending the fish out towards the staring merman. Berwald raised his eyebrows and cautiously came forward, slowly, looking around at the strange contraption hanging in the water off the side of the boat and not seeming to make heads or tails of it.

_Yes, that's it, just a little closer and then I can get out of here! _Tino thought to himself as the homopiscis neared. Damn, he was bigger than Tino remembered! Berwald looked him up and down, also sparing looks at the surrounding crew to assess the threat, and when the human made a slight beckoning motion with the fish, Berwald seemed to make a decision. The rest of his tail followed his human torso into the cradle, and the second his fins crossed the threshold, someone hit the switch that lifted the metal gates on either side, creating a cage. The metal thump took Berwald's attention from Tino and he spun around to see what was happening, but it was too late. Already the cradle was starting to rise, cutting off the merman's only possible way to escape as the water became to shallow to jump, and Tino was more than ready to finally give into instinct and bolt to the boat's side. He tossed the fish over his shoulder and couldn't climb the ladder fast enough!

The merman was fully exposed to the air in a matter of seconds, desperately trying to lift himself up the bars and back into the sea below. It was useless, though. The rail was too high and his body was far too heavy when not submerged in water. He was completely vulnerable now. The humans took a moment to cheer at their successful catch, and even Tino managed a smile. Thank goodness that was over!

They knew homopiscis could breathe air well enough, so there wasn't nearly as strict of a time crunch as catching a shark would have. They could take their time and watch closely as the merman in the box below wore himself out fighting gravity. The longer it went on, though, the more Tino started to feel bad watching him struggle in the enclosed space, not knowing what was happening or why. He wouldn't be harmed and would be back home in no time, but the merman didn't know that. If only there was a way to tell him, but it wasn't like they shared a common language.

Finally, the subject fell on his side facing his captors and stopped moving, aside from his panting and a few flicks of his tail. His narrowed eyes went over every one of the people leaning over the side looking at him, and they stopped on Tino at the far end. There was an expression on his face like pure anger that made the Fin flinch. The others noticed the gaze and Emil smirked. "I guess the honeymoon is over."

Tino frowned. He didn't find this as funny as the others did. Mathias slapped him on the back with a laugh. "Cheer up! Weddings are expensive, you can put that hard earned cash to a better use now!"

When it looked like the merman was done fighting, the crew grabbed their equipment and jumped down to the platform before he could catch his breath. They approached carefully, then pounced as they had practiced, successfully securing the fish tail down to keep it from thrashing and binding his wrists with a soft cord. A cloth was tied around his eyes to cut off his vision, too. Usually that was a calming technique, but it did very little to calm this aquatic creature. It took three people just to pin Berwald down so he couldn't thrash around. Two had to sit on his tail while one, Tino, held his arms down above his head by sitting on them. Mathias was the only one free to move around, and he grabbed a syringe to inject a small muscle relaxant into the subject's arm, which he was definitely not happy about in the slightest. He made a pained grunt and Lukas and Emil had their work cut out for them keeping him from rolling.

"It should start working in a minute," Mathias informed the camera that was suddenly thrust into his face. "It won't last very long so we'll have to be quick!"

He did his best to take measurements while they waited for the drug to take effect. Berwald's jaw was clenched tight as his limbs quaked in exertion to free any part of him, but sure enough, he started to grow slack. The loss of his strength made him let out a noise like a low whine, and it stabbed Tino right in the heart to hear it. He knew Berwald wasn't in danger, he knew the merman would be fine and this was all part of research, but...this felt very wrong. Was it because their subject had a human face that Tino couldn't help but sympathize? That he'd been in this kind of situation two weeks ago and he understood better than anyone what Berwald was going through? That he just betrayed the trust of this merman and would likely not be forgiven anytime soon?

Wait, why did he care that the merman didn't like him anymore? If anything, he should be glad about that. But it wasn't just his trust of Tino that was gone now, it was his trust of all humans. He would likely never approach another human again, which means this would probably be the last encounter anyone ever had with Berwald. Tino was at fault for that, and he felt simply awful about it.

When the merman had been subdued, the others released him and got to work. None of them seemed to be having as hard of a time with this as Tino was. The merman's nostrils flared as his body was poked with various instruments from measuring tape to dermal thermometers and he could do nothing about it. Tino didn't have to keep holding his arms down anymore, but his hands stayed on his pale forearms, trying to communicate through some gentle rubbing that he was sorry and it was all going to be okay. The message wasn't getting through.

"Flip him over,"Mathias ordered when the timer beeped. They only had a few more minutes until the mild muscle relaxant wore off and Berwald would be fighting again. Flipping him over took the effort of everyone to roll the heavy merman onto his stomach, exposing his strong back and rubbery dorsal fin protruding from right where scales met skin. They talked among themselves, pointing out interesting things and exclaiming how amazing this was, but Tino stayed put. Berwald's cheek pressed into the floor of the platform and his blindfold was pushed slightly up, revealing that his eyes were clenched tightly shut. They flew open again when the buzz of a drill implanting a tracking tag through the tip of his dorsal fin made him flinch with what little strength he had left. Was that...was that a tear welling up in his eye?

Oh god, Tino couldn't do this anymore!

"He's had enough," Tino said, quietly at first, and then louder so the rest could hear him. "We have to let him go!"

"What? Why?" The others looked perplexed at Tino's statement and he pointed to the merman, who stared at him with a look Tino couldn't bare to see anymore. "We aren't done yet and we still have a few minutes left."

"But he's scared, and he's hurt," Tino tried to argue and stood up. "He's traumatized enough, let's let him go already!"

"We can't just drop everything and let him go," Lukas countered and attempted to keep working while he spoke. "He's too weak to swim, we have to wait until the drug wears off before we can release him. Might as well make the best of that time."

Tino grabbed Lukas' wrist and pulled the needle from his hand before he could take a blood sample from Berwald's tail. It wasn't like him to be so forceful, but Tino felt this was important. "Then don't release him, just stop! Please just let him be, okay?"

Lukas pulled his arm away. He didn't like being touched, and he knew Tino knew that. His voice dropped to a low tone as he bit back the urge to scold. "Tino, if we don't do this now, then we might never get this chance again. He's not going to come back to us anymore after this."

Tino felt his stomach lurch at the statement he was all too aware was true. They all knew that going into this plan, but they all agreed the benefits would outweigh the consequences. That is, until now. Something changed within Tino when he saw Berwald like this. "I-I know, but..."

"What, are you feeling sorry for your fishy boyfriend?" Mathias stood up and flicked Tino on the forehead, making him step back. "It would never work out, you know, since he's a fish and you're a person."

Tino felt his fingers dig into his palms. It wasn't the teasing that got to him, surprisingly enough. "He's a person, too!" That caught both him and the others off guard, but he continued. "Look at him, he's not just a fish! He's a living breathing person, and he has thoughts and feelings and rights of his own, and he doesn't deserve to be treated like this." Where were these words coming from? When did Tino decide any of this? It was ridiculous! But...it was true. When he looked at Berwald, he didn't see a rare species of fish. He saw a lonely man on the rocks who thought he had made a friend.

It was quiet enough to hear a camera lens zoom out, which reminded Tino of the three video takers currently filming this entire thing from all angles. Shit, that was embarrassing. But he stood by what he said just now, even if he was still trying to process it himself. He hoped this didn't put him at the forefront of some kind of humanity debate once they got back to land.

Mathias was the captain, so everyone looked to him to make the call. Tino kept his stance strong and waited along with the others. The Danish researcher ran a hand through his spiky hair and let out a long sigh, looking over their subject still lying helplessly on the floor, fins twitching slightly as the muscle relaxant showed signs of wearing off. The minute was tense until he finally spoke. "Well, we've already tagged him and got the big stuff we needed. We wasted enough time arguing so we might as well finish up here and let the poor thing breathe. But," that word held back the smile that wanted to come out on Tino's face. "the data we didn't get is coming out of your paycheck."

He could live with that. He nodded in agreement and Lukas and Emil started packing up their equipment. Berwald was rolled back onto his side and given a towel as a head rest for his comfort as he started to slowly come out of his paralysis. Tino did the honors of untying the wrist restraints and taking the blindfold off, and just as he was removing the cloth from the merman's face, weak fingers latched onto the hem of his shirt. His eyes were still narrowed and dangerous, but he mostly looked tired. Tino wasn't sure what he was trying to say with this action, or maybe he was only trying to kill Tino for doing this to him. Whatever it was, he let go when Tino prodded them off and gave his shoulder a quick apologetic squeeze before standing back up and heading to the ladder. From there he watched by the rail with the others as Berwald regained his strength, slowly but surely, and when it looked like he had recovered enough, they hit the switch to lower the cradle back into the water. The gates were dropped and Berwald was free to go, and the merman wasted no time getting the hell out of there as fast as his weary body would allow. He was gone within a minute, and Tino let out a relieved breath. At least he could sleep easy now.

Though his crew mates had a different idea.

The rest of the day was a mix of celebration and questioning Tino about why he said what he did when he did it. Tino thought his words from before would have been self explanatory, but it didn't stop everyone from being in his face about it, especially the camera crew. Tino's interview was nothing short of awkward. Even Ed wasn't holding back on the questions this time. Why the sudden change of heart? Was he going to elaborate on his little speech earlier? Did Tino think of homopiscis as human? And even his 'relationship' with the creature was called into question! What relationship?!

Tino didn't have any good answers for them. Eventually he got fed up with the unwanted attention and excused himself from the little party to be alone, but that was a hard thing to do when you were on a boat. He found the stern to be lacking of people at the moment so he took a seat on the bench and nursed his glass of vodka in a sudden bout of self loathing made no easier in the waning light of the sun.

He really should have kept his mouth shut and not done what he did. Berwald would have been fine either way, and it wasn't like releasing him a few minutes earlier was going to matter in the long run. The merman was never going to trust another human, regardless. What was Tino trying to prove just then? Why did he feel so responsible for all of this? Why did it matter so much?

It didn't matter, he decided. He was just a wierdo. Tino was a wierdo, and a drama queen, and a hypocrite, and an idiot. He looked out over the sparkling water and wished momentarily that he could just grow fins and be free of all his troubles, like Berwald was. Life must be so much easier out here where there are no reputations to keep, no rules, no responsibilities. He could just swim around and be free, be himself. It sounded so nice.

Or...maybe it wasn't all fun and games. Could Berwald have his own troubles, too? He was half fish and half human, after all. It was like being stuck between two worlds. That had to be frustrating sometimes, and perhaps it is why Berwald started approaching the human research boat in the first place, because he was curious of his other half.

So much for making a good impression.

Alone time was not helping Tino get his mind off this. He downed the rest of his vodka and stood up, looking over the tall cliffs not too far away one last time before going back inside. Would he really be sleeping any better tonight?

* * *

**Poor sexy fishy man. Poor confused little Finny. WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?! Stay tuned for the final chapter~**


	3. Third Encounter

"You want to _what?_" The captain looked down at the Fin that had made the most surprising request Mathias could have ever imagined from the guy and the Dane leaned on the wall with crossed arms, giving him a suspicious raised eyebrow look. Tino stood his ground and tried to stay looking confident about his crazy decision.

"I want to go swimming," he repeated, "in the shark cage again."

The captain rubbed the blonde stubble on his chin that he hadn't had the chance to shave off yet. Tino didn't have to worry about shaving since he didn't grow hair anywhere but his head and eyebrows. It was his rare violet eye color he had to thank for that, the doctors had told him. At least it came in handy out at sea on mornings too rough to shave safely, like this one. No matter how convenient, it didn't make up for the years of insecurity in his masculinity he experienced as a teen.

"I thought you hated the shark cage," Lukas pointed out as he passed by on the way to the kitchen for his fourth cup of coffee. The hallway was cramped, as they always are on ships and boats, and the rocking floor didn't help getting around.

"I do," Tino said quickly, then backtracked. "I mean...I did. It really isn't so bad, I mean..."

"Just what are you trying to accomplish?" Mathias asked, not buying the sudden bravery, and Tino did his best to answer that.

"Well, we won't know for sure if Berwald doesn't like humans anymore until we try one more time. And that's the whole reason I'm here, isn't it? To be bait?"

"Yeah, and you've served your purpose in that department. We tagged our subject and now all we have to do is wait for the data to come in."

"You'll be waiting a long time," Emil's voice came from the computer room two open doors away. "He got the tag off."

"_Whaaaaat?!"_ Mathias and the others quickly filed into the room where Emil sat at the screens with a frown. "How do you know?"

"Either our merman can fly or the tracker has been stolen by a bird." He pointed at the sensor for sea level and sure enough, it was reading well above the waves and moving fast. "The tracker isn't even attached to the rest of it anymore. I'm picking up static signals from the other components."

"DAMNIT!" Mathias punched the metal wall with the side of his fist and everyone let out a collective groan. All of that work, for nothing!

Tino saw his chance and he took it. "Well then, I guess I should get in the water, right? Lets see if we have any chance of tagging him again." They all looked at him like he was nuts."What?"

"Tino, we had to _bribe_ you to do it last time. Now you're the first one to volunteer?"

"Yeah," Tino rubbed the back of his neck and looked to the side like the fantasic liar he was. "You know...for science."

They weren't buying it. They didn't have to, though. In the end, they were just happy they didn't have to come up with a way to force Tino into it. The Fin got a plethora of looks as they readied the cage and underwater cameras, this time mounting them to the bars instead of making Tino hold one. National Geographic came with their own state-of-the-art equipment that made the researcher's jobs that much easier, though the rights of the film belonged to them. It was a small price to pay.

"What are you planning to do, give it to him?" Emil questioned when Tino asked to take a tag with him.

"Maybe," Tino said as he secured his scuba tank to his back. "I mean, he might actually keep it if he thinks it's a gift. He obviously values offerings."

"He's not going to come back," Lukas informed flatly from where he checked the cables for the cage. "We scared him off yesterday. This isn't going to work."

"It's not like we have any other choice," Mathias said. "Either we try this or we go home empty handed."

"At least we got some good footage," Eduard mentioned where he sat with his laptop, checking the links to the cameras one last time. "That's worth a lot."

"Yeah, but we didn't even get a blood sample thanks to _someone_." Tino received a pointed look from his captain. "Footage and a few measurements is all we have. I'd like to show our sponsors and investors that we make good on our promises."

"That's all part of studying nature's most illusive creatures, though," Eduard reminded. "Sometimes you get the shot you need, sometimes you don't."

In the end, Tino was given a tag to carry with him, just in case. It wasn't like it could hurt. This one was a clip-on that fit in his palm. It didn't have many of the fancy features the bigger tags had, but it could track water pressure and send information to a satellite just fine. It was the best they could do since he couldn't take the drill underwater, nor would he get the chance to put another hole in Berwald's dorsal fin, if he even showed up at all. Tino knew there was a very slim chance that the merman would return after the nightmare that was yesterday. He had no reason to trust Tino anymore. In fact, he might even be out for Tino's blood. But Tino had to try. It didn't sit right with him that he'd betrayed the merman's trust like that and took advantage of him. He had to do something, anything, to show that he was sorry and that it wouldn't happen again. Even if it was the last time he ever saw Berwald, he at least wanted to leave on a better note. If not for him, but for humanity. Humans really aren't that bad once you get to know them...

The cage was deployed and the boat's motor took it a good thirty feet away, and suddenly Tino was alone in the cage once again. The feeling was familiar as he floated there and looked around anxiously for any sign of a human silhouette in the murky water that had been stirred up by the weather that morning. In his hand he held another dead fish, and this one was a real offering of peace. He really hoped Berwald wouldn't think it was another trap.

By the twenty minute mark, Tino's air tank was over halfway depleted, but he refused to come back until it reached 10%. That would give him as much time as possible to wait for their subject to grace them with his presence, if he felt like doing so. Waiting was boring, and nerve wracking, but not in the way it had been the first time. Two weeks ago, Tino had been afraid of the merman showing up, and now he was afraid of the exact opposite!

"_Give it up, Tino. Your air is at 18%. It's been half an hour. He's not taking the bait."_

Tino shook his head to the camera. "Not yet, Lu. Gimme ten more minutes."

"_Just what is this all about?"_ the man asked over the receiver. Tino sighed, making bubbles spill from his mask.

"Nothing," was his short reply. Lukas didn't accept it.

"_Please tell me what's going on in that head of yours. Not as a colleague, but as a friend. I've never seen you so worked up before."_

"Worked up? I'm not worked up about anything! I'm just doing my job, that's all." Damn Lukas and his freaky accurate perception!

"The others left to observe on deck awhile ago, and I've got my headphones in," Lukas informed. "I can turn off the audio recorder for a minute if that would help, too."

Wow, he really wanted to know. Tino wondered what he should say, if he should keep lying or tell the truth. What even was the truth? With another sigh, Tino decided begrudgingly to confide the best he could. Maybe Lukas could help him sort this internal dilemma out. "I just...I feel bad about all of this. The whole thing. I don't know why I care so much, I just don't want Berwald to come away from this thinking that humans are terrible. Not just for the sake of science, but...I was thinking about how lonely it must be out here for him. Why do you think he lives by the cliffs? There don't seem to be any others of his kind with him, and he's too...I don't know, _human_, to be living like this."

"_So you _do_ consider him human,"_ Lukas concluded, much to Tino's embarrassment. _"That's why you got so emotional yesterday."_

"I was not emotional!" Tino defended. "I was just...worried, I think." The young man was at a mental loss with all of this. "Maybe I do consider him human, but how can you not? He doesn't act like an animal, Lu, he's...he's different. He's not like any other species we've ever seen and we can't just keep treating him like another fish. When we caught him yesterday and he was so confused and scared...it wasn't right. We wouldn't do that to a person, would we?"

It was quiet over the radio for a moment while Lukas pondered Tino's words. _"I understand." _Did he really? _"I don't see what you see in him, Tino, but you are the one that has had the most face-time with Berwald than any of us. You probably know him better that way. I think it's admirable of you to take his feelings into account so much, but please try not to get swept away."_

"What do you mean?"

"_He's pretty attractive, isn't he? Physically, I mean."_

"Uh...I guess so."

"_And he's quite a dark and mysterious figure." _Where was Lukas going with this? _"Add in his obsessive tendencies and it's like every teenage romance novel come to life."_

Tino huffed, making the audio spike for a moment on Lukas' end. "It's not like that, Lukas!"

"_I didn't say anything."_

"You said enough."

There was a chuckle in Tino's ear and the Fin rolled his eyes. What did he do to deserve this? What kind of evil deed had he done to conjure up this kind of karma?

Tino was about to throw an insinuation of his own involving the strange noises he sometimes heard from the captain's room at night when Lukas' room was empty, but a shadow caught his eye. He paused and waited, not sure if it was another passing fish or something else. "I'm not alone," he warned Lukas, trying to keep the excitement welling up in his chest out of his voice. It was only one of several emotions he felt as he waited on the edge for any sign of the circling shadow again. Excitement, relief, and of course the usual fear, dread, and anxiety that came with being in a cage all alone in the middle of the ocean with a large intelligent being possibly nearby and probably angry at him. But Tino had a mission, and he was determined to be brave.

A tense minute went by before the shadow came back. It was...not human shaped. It was a plain old fish that slipped past without much care. Tino was surprised at how disappointed he felt, despite being just about to pee himself a moment prior. The alert on his tank went off to say he was down to 10% oxygen and the man deflated with the knowledge that his time was up. Berwald never showed.

"_Tino, behind you!"_

Lukas' warning made the Fin spin around, and he yelped in surprise at the merman's shadow just close enough to vaguely see the shape of and nothing else. It was really creepy, like a ghost, just...floating there. Motionless, save for the swishing tail keeping him in place. Tino swallowed and faced him, waiting for Berwald to start circling like he usually did, but this time he didn't. He was still, not coming any closer or further away. That was a bit off-putting.

"_I don't think he trusts you." _No shit, Sherlock. Tino resisted the urge to snap in his nervousness. _"Give him the fish."_

"How? He's too far away!"

"_I don't know, put it through the bars or something." _That meant reaching out of the cage, where Berwald was. Tino really didn't want to do that. But...what choice did he have right now? He would have to do something drastic if he wanted the merman to give him another chance.

Carefully, Tino moved forward and held the offering out from between the bars. His hand tingled with anticipation of it getting bitten off or something, but nothing like that happened. Instead, Berwald moved away a little more. Now all Tino could see was his outline. "He...he doesn't want it."

"_I wonder why."_ Mathias' sarcasm was not needed. It sounded like Lukas called the others back in. _"At least we know he's actually willing to come back! Er, sort of."_

The diver extended his arm out a little more, hoping that might send a better message, but that didn't help, either. Berwald moved back even more, and now Tino couldn't see him at all. "No!" he called, despite the only ones able to hear it being in the boat thirty feet away. "Please come back..."

"_Looks like that's all we get for today," _Mathias concluded on the other end. _"Sit tight, we'll pick you up in a minute."_

"No, not yet! I...just let me..." Tino thought frantically for ideas, but none came to mind, save for one that anyone would have to be insane to try. But in this moment that called for drastic measures, perhaps it was just insane enough to work. "Let me try one more thing."

"_What's that?"_

Tino didn't answer, instead swallowing the lump in his throat and putting his plan into action. If he told them what he was planning then they would probably try to talk him out of it and stop him. The diver surfaced inside the cage where the buoys kept it afloat and opened the wire door. He was quick to pull himself up, hurriedly readjusting to gravity again so he could swing his legs over the top and into the open water on the other side.

"_...Don't tell us you're going to-"_

He took the plunge before they had the chance to object. Now Tino was on the outside of the cage where he was completely vulnerable to anything and everything in the ocean, and his teammates were not happy about it.

"_Tino, what the fuck are you doing?! Get back in the cage!"_

"_Are you crazy?!"_

"_If you don't turn around and get back inside right now, you are so fired!"_

Tino ignored them and simply held onto the cage bar with one hand and gripped the offering in the other, and he scanned the murky water for any sign that Berwald was still nearby and might have seen his display of trust. "Let me do this," he pleaded with them, "Just let me try, okay? If I don't do something, I might never see him again!" Tino caught himself too late. "We," he corrected quickly. "_We_ might never see him again."

"_Yeah, he's gone crazy," _Emil confirmed. _"I'll fire up the engine and-"_

"_No,"_ Lukas spoke suddenly and the others went quiet. _"Let him do this. We forced him into this situation in the first place, the least we can do is trust his judgment." _

"_But...but!" _Mathias sounded like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. _"Tino, aren't you scared?"_

"I'll be fine," Tino reassured with a small smile behind his mask, almost believing it himself. He silently thanked Lukas for taking his side when it really mattered. He was a better friend than Tino gave him credit for. "Besides, Captain, you said it yourself: Sometimes science requires sacrifice."

Mathias grumbled, but he didn't say no. _"Fine. But if you die, I get the bribe we promised you."_

"Deal."

With that, the line went quiet again. The only sound was Tino's breathing and his head screaming at him how bad of an idea this was. He felt like Captain Ahab and his obsession with finding a certain pale aquatic creature. He really hoped this didn't end anything like Moby Dick did.

Just when his tank beeped again to alert him that he was at 7% oxygen, he saw the haunting shadowy figure again. Tino's hand squeezed the bar he was holding, knowing this was it, it was all or nothing. They stared at each other for awhile before either of them dared to make a move.

It was Tino who moved first, who tried holding out his offering again to the looming shadow, which didn't move away like last time. Gradually, with much hesitation, the merman came closer. Tino tried not to shake like a leaf as he anticipated either something really good or really bad to come from this...this utterly horrible idea. The Fin was at the merman's mercy. One wrong move might get him killed, depending on how the other was feeling! When Berwald was close enough that Tino could make out his facial features, he was...not mad. That much Tino could tell, but as for what he was thinking, the diver had no clue. But it wasn't malicious, which was a start.

Tino took a deep breath of his waning oxygen and beckoned him closer. There wasn't anything else he could do to show he had peaceful intentions, aside from letting go of the cage and handing him the fish himself. Tino wasn't that crazy just yet. Berwald came to within arm's reach and reached out, slowly, as if he were the one expecting to have his arm bitten off. He touched the fish offered to him by feeble hands, but he didn't take it yet. He took a second to wait, like something was going to happen, and when it didn't, he finally accepted it. Tino let his arm fall slowly in the water and another beep broke the tense silence, making him flinch. 6%.

Berwald stayed two arm's lengths away as he looked over the fish, eyebrows scrunched together like he was contemplating something. The way he looked up at Tino and then down at his gift made it seem like he was torn. Tino let him work it out and kept his back pressed to the cage with his white knuckles gripping the bars behind him. Then, Berwald's hand came up to touch the Hawaiian necklace still around his neck and looked fully at him with those blue-green eyes, as if asking a question. What was he asking?

...'Can I trust you', perhaps?

Tino nodded, hoping that was the right answer. It apparently was, because the corners of the merman's lips turned up slightly into one of those little smiles and his eyes brightened considerably.

A collective sigh of relief sounded in Tino's earpiece. _"Alright, awesome, you did it. Now get your little butt out of the water before he takes you on a honeymoon."_

Tino complied and gave his new homopiscis friend a little wave before kicking his flippers and rising to the surface. Mission success! Berwald surfaced with him not too far away and the moment he broke the surface, his eyes went back to that narrow glare of his. Uh-oh, was he angry? No...he was still smiling. Maybe he just did that because he couldn't see very well out of the water? It was an interesting theory and Tino made a mental note to mention it to the others. He turned around and climbed onto the top of the cage while Berwald watched from the water, swimming right up to the edge when Tino was seated comfortably on the floating rig above. He took his goggles and respirator off to flash his own smile at the merman, and strangely enough, Berwald's face turned pink at the sighht. It made Tino laugh.

"You know, you can be pretty cute when you want to be," he informed the other, who didn't understand a word. That was okay, though. It felt like they had some kind of understanding between them that went beyond words now that all was forgiven. Suddenly, Tino wasn't so afraid of homopiscis anymore. At least, not this one. Berwald was nice.

"Oh!" Tino suddenly remembered the whole point of this thing and reached into the pocket on his suit to pull out the clip-on tag. "I want you to have this," he explained to the clueless face below and held it up to show him. "This way I can always know where you are, and I can come find you. Can you please hold onto it for me?"

Berwald blinked at it and leaned in closer to see. Yup, he was definitely near-sighted. While he was close enough, Tino clipped the device onto the necklace around the merman's neck right next to the Aloha! bead and pressed the button on the side that turned it on. Berwald seemed perplexed about what it was, but he didn't object. He touched the smooth plastic surface with his fingertips and looked at Tino, who was closer to the merman of his own free will than he'd ever been before, and not scared at all. If Berwald were to attack and drag him to the bottom of the sea he would have done it already. He smiled again, and Tino smiled back, and the moment felt absolutely perfect, like-

"_M-mph_!"

The boat chose that moment to roar to life and the noise signaled the merman's retreat, leaving a very flustered Tino sitting on top of the cage with a hand over his mouth and violet eyes gone wide at the ripples left behind by Berwald's tail. Son of a bitch, he did it _again_!

At least this time it wasn't on camera. The entire exchange happened in the cage's only blind spot, which made everyone but Tino groan. But at least Tino was able to get Berwald's trust back, and he was even able to tag him! They asked if he thought the merman would voluntarily keep the tag on his necklace and Tino assured them he would. He was all too confident about that.

The rest of the day dissolved into yet another party. Just how much alcohol did Mathias manage to cram onto the ship? Nobody seemed to care about questioning the endless beer supply in favor of passing it around while checking on the satellite feed every so often for updates on Berwald's position. They were getting their first blips of data and the world's first glimpse into the life of a homopiscis, and by the looks of it, Berwald was going everywhere they didn't expect him to go. Apparently homopiscis could dive to incredibly deep depths and spent a lot of time down there doing who-knows-what. Probably hunting for food. That would explain why they had gone so long without being discovered, and that there were likely more of them out there than anyone thought.

It was the dawn of a new era in the study of these allusive fairytale creatures, and everyone was excited to get back to the mainland to publish their findings. Eduard and the other National Geographic photographers were eager to make their TV documentary and shot even more interviews and video before they had to prepare to head back to port. The weather report said an early autumn storm was approaching, but they didn't have to worry about that until tomorrow. Mathias declared they would leave first thing in the morning, probably because everyone was too drunk to drive a boat at the moment.

This time, Tino was in good spirits as he consumed ungodly amounts of alcohol to, once again, steady his heart which had not stopped beating painfully loud since that afternoon. When he finally started to get buzzed a few hours in, he went out on deck for some fresh air and watched the sun go down. The sunset was kind of dull today thanks to the thick overcast, but that was alright. Tino was too content to care. He single-handedly saved the entire research operation and was the only reason these idiots even had any data in the first place. They should make him the captain and call him the homopiscis whisperer!

Okay, maybe he wasn't exactly a homopiscis whisperer if it was only one specific merman he had wrapped around his finger, but it was more than anyone else in the world could say. The red staining his cheeks right now was definitely the alcohol's fault, not his dissolving train of hazy thought. Not the memory of what happened on top of the cage that afternoon and the lingering sensation on his lips that he just couldn't forget for some stupid reason. Nope. Definitely not.

Tino shook his head and leaned on the railing by his elbows. He had to stop that kind of thinking before...before what? Before nothing. Thinking about this any more was beyond ridiculous.

Tino just needed a little more vodka, was all.

"You okay?" a familiar voice behind him asked, and Tino didn't have to turn around to know it was Lukas. The slightly shorter man teetered a bit as he made his way to the same railing Tino leaned on and gave it his own weight to support, too.

"Of course!" Tino answered cheerily. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Just checking." Lukas then proceeded to throw up over the side of the boat. Tino didn't stop smiling as he patted the other's back while he got it all out. "Fuck," Lukas swore and wiped his lips with his sleeve. "I hate Danish beer. Remind me to punch Mathias when I go back inside."

"How is it his fault that Danish beer makes you sick?"

"I don't know. It just feels like it is." That was the kind of drunken logic that couldn't be questioned. "So, are you and your boyfriend on good terms now?"

"He's not my boyfriend. And yeah, I think we are."

"Tino," Lukas put his hand on Tino's shoulder after and gave him a serious look. "Ya know how they say there's plenty of fish in the sea? Well it might seem like it, but there's not. People who say that are full of shit. There's only one fish in the sea, Ti, and he's the last one you want, but the only one ya need."

"Sooo...how many beers have you had, Lu?"

"Seven. But that's not the point." It didn't seem like his ranting could be stopped. That was the funny thing about Lukas. When he was sober, he only ever said what needed to be said when he needed to say it. Drunk Lukas was the exact opposite and couldn't seem to shut up, even when he wasn't making sense. It was hilarious, most of the time. "Sometimes you just want to gut that fish 'cause it's stupid and tells stupid jokes, but if you did that, then...it would be bad. If you teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish... Wait, if you _give_ a man a fish, I mean. Give him a fish and he'll try to give you a handjob under the table. So don't give a man a fish, but if you do, then its okay, 'cause you'll eat for a lifetime. You know what I'm saying?"

"I do, Lu. Thank you for that advice. I will treasure it always."

"Good." Lukas nodded decisively as if his job here was done and stood back up. "Come back in soon, we're starting a game of pong."

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute." Lukas started walking back to the door and Tino called after him. "Remember to punch Mathias!"

When his friend left, he turned his attention back to the sea. Behind him he could hear the door close, then a yelp from the captain, and a soft cool breeze fanned his face as the evening light began to fade. Give a man a fish, huh? Tino supposed he'd already done that. The old saying always said not to, and yet here Tino was with his dream career and a big bonus coming in the mail, all because he gave a man a fish.

Of course, the saying wasn't supposed to be taken literally, but still. The irony was amusing.

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**Thanks for reading! I hope that ending was alright. All of your kind reviews are cherished in the warm fuzzies of my heart. :) I'm on a merman kick right now so you'll probably see more of that from me in the future.**

**For now, I will hibernate for the first few days of my spring break. Keep on keep'n on!**


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